What is the best GPS locator/tracker for Commercial Use?
We have a construction site where we have a few locations we want to keep track of, before we build something. We have a drawing showing the locations and are not keen to get them surveyed. is there a GPS device that we can use to locate them, say latitude wise, etc;. So in the future, we can locate them using those coordinates? will such equipment measure distance between two such coordinates.
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4 Comments
Comment #1014
Even the best commercially available GPS trackers usually have a tolerance of several feet in open unobstructed spaces. Do your needs fall into these tolerances? Usually surveyed space is in the tolerance of inches to millimeters.
Comment #1015
A consumer GPS will have an error of at least a meter and often several meters. If that is acceptable then just about any GPS will work OK but you need to keep in mind that you don’t have an accurate location.
Also consumer GPS systems often filter the position. The actual location the system is measuring will be constantly moving by a small amount, users don’t like to see a moving position while they are standing still and so when the GPS thinks you are standing still it won’t change the position it’s displaying. Not a problem for most people but it can be a big problem if you want accuracy.
There are commercial GPS systems designed for mapping, construction and survey type uses that will give you better accuracy. They can give you positions accurate to between 1 foot and half an inch depending on how much you are willing to spend.
More accurate systems get more complex to use, a 1 foot system you can hold in your hand, a half inch system is pointless unless you mount the antenna on a survey pole, the error in where you are holding it will be more than the GPS error.
The price also goes up rapidly with accuracy. 1 foot is a few thousand dollars, under an inch and you’re looking at tens of thousands.
Take a look at Leica, Thales, Trimble and Topcon for a start.
Most sell their commercial products through dealers, if you find one local to you they may rent you a suitable system if you don’t want to buy one.
On your second question, most systems will give you distance between two points. If not you could always put the latitude and longitude into google earth or some other mapping program and get the distance from that.
If you measure two points one right after the other and make sure the GPS is using exactly the same set of satellites for the two measurements then most of the position errors will be the same for both points and your measurement of the distance between them will far more accurate than either of your two positions.
Comment #1013
I have owned several Garmin units over the years, and like them a lot… My etrex Vista could probably do what you need; had it around 3 years now.
You won’t get the accuracy from a consumer model that the military has access to, but you can navigate within a 8-12ft radius no problem. So, if your main objective is to mark a spot and return to it (within 6′ or so), a handheld unit will work fine. No substitute for a real survey, but good enough to get in the ballpark, map-wise [dugout might be more apt]. Put another way, you could drop a white rock in a wooded area, mark your GPS, and find it later no problem.
Get some marker flags, or survey tape for trees, mark your spots exactly, then use the GPS to find them again…
Features such as distance between points are fairly basic on consumer units, but accurate only within a few yards. Ditto for the ability to calculate area based on a tracked outline. Point averaging will improve accuracy for marking purposes.
Instead of looking for a "commercial" quality device, I’d recommend one geared toward outdoor activities with a screen big enough to use in a car, with road navigation, and upgrade options. You’ll most likely find yourself using it all the time, and in the $200 or less range, you can have a multi-purpose GPS.
Stay away from the pared-down car units. Frustratingly limited.
I’d prioritize the interface [ease of use], screen, and batteries. Have fun!
Comment #1016
Most commercial use GPS devices are for tracking vehicles. For private/consumer uses, GPS devices are for campers, hikers, cars, and built-in with cameras.
Any handheld GPS device will fit your needs, but the reading might not be to the level of accuracy that you require. Nowadays, there are no more limitations on accuracy for commercial or private GPS devices, unlike several years back when military-use GPS was up to 10 times more accurate.
Because most GPS devices can only store distance and direction traveled, you would need to do some math if you want straight line distances between any two coordinates.
For more info on GPS, you might want to take a look at the available options on http://www.trackwhatmatters.com/